OT: Anyone here know of any X-COM like games?

Quite similar game (in logic) is Spellcross (beware, there is RPG game with same name, anyway, this one is strategy). You have strategy part (a bit simplier than XCOM), and tactics part (it is unit based as Battle island, but the gameplay is more UFO like).
Game was produced in Czech republic, and it might be free (or very cheap) nowadays. It was sold in Europe as well, not sure about US (but there definitely IS English version, not only Czech one ). You can find review at http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/jan99/spellcr.html

Enjoy

~SDC~

BTW, if you manage to get Spellcross, be _sure_ to download patch. It solves problems with running on W2000, and resolves few quirks (savegame problems in missions, unit organization grid error and few other).

~SDC~

You can d/l it at the underdogs site. I think th authors let the copyright go to public domain, a that site is very good about repsecting copyrights.

Looks like it's 54MB.

~SDC~

Bobo ask if mean earthmens fighting aliens or just squad based game? If means earthmens and aliens, Bobo played INCUBATION...not xcom but close. If means squad based, Bobo played SOLDIERS AT WAR and CHAOS GATE....controlling little mens in turn based fighting. Bobo played XCOM and must have to say there is no game like it that better than xcom!
Ask Bobo for more information if not knowing these games.
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HairytheTaco ask Bobo for more information. HairytheTaco is not familier with "incubation", "Soldiers at war" and "chaos gate". HairytheTaco ask Bobo to tell HairytheTaco more about those games Boba talk about. LOL


well anyways, i too have to think that the first 2 X-Coms are still my favorite games ever. i only wish that they could handle being installed and played on a newer computer. i havent came across any games yet similiar to them yet. HOWEVER, i did read a review for a new game coming out shortly on gamesdomain which supposed to be similar to X-com. the game is called "UFO: Aftermath", and the link to the review is http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/previews/jun03/ufo.html

i dont know when the games is supposed to come out, but i hope i find some money to get a faster computer by then. judging by the graphics and that it isnt really a true turnbased game, i dont think the computer i have now will be able to handle it.

seriously, check out the link, i think this game has some really good potential.

ok, here is the link to the developers site for "UFO: Aftermath" http://www.ufo-aftermath.com

im trying to find the expected system requirements, but i havent found it yet. i thinks its scedualed to come out in septemeber, which wont be good for me, im going school then, any money i will have will be going to books (:(

The XCom designers have had Laser Squad Nemesis out for about a year now; it's squad-level tactical warfare, played over email vs humans.

See: http://www.lasersquadnemesis.com/

i want to try that Laser Squad Nemesis thing out, but i dont like the idea that you gotta keep paying a membership to play. they should have set it up that you pay for it once, and you can play as much online for free afterwards. kinda like what blizzard did with Diablo 2, where you pay for the game once (unless you are getting the expansion pack, damn blizzard! that should be free!) and you get unlimited free online multiplayer gaming on blizzard.net. paying monthly for a game just doesnt appeal to me, thats the main reason why i dont want to get Laser Squad Nemisis. im not even sure if i want to download the demo because its for only 3 games, and i dont think 3 games would be enough to learn the game enough to enjoy the demo.

i really miss X-com now that i think of it, i cant wait to find a replacement.

man ur a cheap bastard. do u know how expensive it is for blizzard to run those servers for YEARS after you people buy the game? Blizzard is in trouble because of that crap, which sucks as they make excellent games. But you're gonna complain about a 20 dollar expansion pack... neato. Life is tough.

~SDC~

LOL, methinks HairyTheTaco never played EQ!

<- 3 accounts times 2.5 years here, and 3 expansions = WOW, lots of cash sunk on a game!

Re Blizzard, I dunno about their financial straits but Diablo2 alone sold well over 1 million copies. And there are still alot of people who play, and they are still releasing patches for it. So you would think it would make some money or at least let them break even. Blizzard is doing alot of other things such as Worlds of Warcraft and other MMORPGs, maybe they will make enough money off that to release Diablo 3. That would be way cool.

#8: LSN is not that expensive, it's $25 for 6 months. And remember that a lot of the game is played through their servers.

And you DON'T have a 3 game limit without registering - it's just that you can't challenge other players. So, you have to go to their forum (there's one for exactly this) and ask to be challenge. Presto - unlimited games!

Of course, without registering you don't enter the league, which is great fun...



~SDC~

Diablo 2 holds the record for the best all-time selling computer game. i dont remember the number of copies sold, but i do remember reading it in the guiness book of world records just past christmas holidays (whatever year was last published then). they have came out with several other excellent selling games -just think of how many people who own GalCiv also probably have a Warcraft 2.


The price for LSN is in US$:
$7 for 1 month ($7*12=$84!)
$15 for 3 months ($15*4=$60)
$25 for 6 months ($25*2=$50)
$40 for 1 year

GalCiv is $40 (in US$), and you get this game for as long as you want to play it. im not being cheap, its just that i dont have a lot of cash to sink into games till im done college and get a steady job.

i didnt know that small loophole with LSN, maybe i will download it if that is the case. Just wondering, how long do the battles usually take for LSM?

Bobo say to Hairy:
Incubation squad based 3d game by Blue Byte maybe 4 years old. Have squad-go kill aliens in warehouses and ships. Chaos Gate is Warhammer 40000 game. Have squads of space marines and go kill aliens and bad guys. Soldiers at War made by same company making Chaos Gate only it WW2 Americans vs stinky bad Germans. All three turn based like xcom...but no investing in techs like xcom. Can find stuff to use (from crates and sometimes dead badthings.) All games have screens for choosing who to go on mission and how to equip. Bobo say maybe look at underdogs website; maybe games on there for free download.
Now Bobo ask question. Him download Spellcross from Underdogs and all him get when EXTRACT is 32 ZIP FILES. No game executable. Him choose save to desktop when click on download vs OPEN. What Bobo do wrong?
Thanking for help.

UFO Aftermath has these system requirements (source, http://www.ufoaftermath.co.uk/?c=aftermath&p=faq):
------------------------------------------------
Currently, the game is developed with the current minimum requirements in mind :

Pentium III 500 MHz
128 MB RAM
GeForce 2 video card with minimum 16 MB onboard RAM
DirectX 7 and OpenGL compatible hardware

* Note that the minimum requirements are subject to change and will be announced before game release.


Suggested system for optimum performance is :

Pentium III 1 GHz
256 MB RAM
GeForce 3 with 64 MB onboard RAM
------------------------------------------------------
Those are some pretty leniant system requirements. My system was put together with gaming only as a tertiary ability, and even it beats the minimum requirements for this game. I'll definately be checking the demo out when it is available.

i downloaded the LSN, but i doesnt really appeal to me. it is kinda like the combat section of X-com, but i still kinda miss managing the soilders backpacks and whatnot. i also miss the base, research and build management. i do have to say it is a good game, but its not really my preference.

XCom UFO Defense won many different awards and was one of Microprose's best selling franchises for a long time. I still play Xcom Apocalypse and Interceptor from time to time. (I reatin old computers and operating systems for this purpose). I think the death of the franchise had more to do with Microprose being gobbled up by Spectrum holobyte, then Hasbro etc. The people in charge at this point do not have the same vision.
There is still al ot more than could be done with the XCOM series. I think a neat plot would be fo rthe aliens to use time travel to thwart XCOM in the first adventure. New equipment could include static defenses like automated turrets (make the cost money so the player does not use them indescrimanantly) laser fencing, etc.

Ok you guys have me intrigued. I want to play this SpellCross game whether I buy it or DL it. What is the address of that UnderDog site place?

Jagged Alilance and its sequels aer also good X=Com-like games. Better characters, turn based, but no aliens and research.

X-Com Terror From the Deep was the first real disappointing sequel for me. X-Com Apocalypse was so-so. I didn't even bother with the X=Com spinoffs.

I always thought that what they needed was a remake of the first game.... I'm real excited about UFO Aftermath.

Last I heard they scrapped the turn based play and now use a Issue Order/Pause like X-Com 3 had I think. Still sounds promising... it also sounds kinda like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic gameplay.
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Bobo still not play Spellcross because download not work. Only extract much zip files. To Thelebk: just type UNDERDOGS on internet browser and you should get website. Let Bobo know if having trouble. Also, if much kind, let Bobo know if you download and able to play game. Maybe tell Bobo how you figured out.

HOW TO GET SPELLCROSS WORKING:

After four hours of fiddling I have critical functionality with SpellCross, now here is what I did.

1) Download the game from the Underdogs website it is 54 megs.

2) do a google search for "spellcross patch" click the first link it shows and walk through the awkward directions to download the 455k patch.

3) Dearchiving the 54 meg game file in Win Zip on my win 98 machine only produced 38 sub archives each of which had to be de-archived individually. After all that I could not get the game working.

4) I transferred the 54 meg zip file across my home network to my winXP machine and deachived using WINRAR. THIS WAS CRITICAL.

5) Deachvie all of the files labelled spelcrooss01-02 etc FIRST. At the end of this use WInRAR to dearchive the file called "spellcross". This creates a folder called "spell" inside of which is the win 95 installer engine etc.

6) Copy the contents of the spell folder to your now de-archived spellcross folder.

7) Dearchive the two patch files and drop them in the same folder.

8) run the win95 startup exe to set you sound options via the old dos method of autodetect etc. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO INSTALL THE GAME.

9) Run the spellcross.exe.

10) I can get graphics on my XP machine but no sound. I got both on my Win 98 machine, but not until I quit every single background application. (use ctrl-alt-delete and close everything EXCEPT explorer, systray)

Now the problem I have is that when I leave the game it asks for the CD. I think I will have to burn all the de-archived files onto a CD and see if that helps.

I played about 2 minutes of the game and it looks very promising. I especially love the british english voices.

Hm, I am sorry I cannot help you with Spellcross getting to run, I have Czech version, original CD, and it works without problems (with patch, of course ). However, it IS good game, in some aspects (IMHO) better than XCOM. BTW, I hope the FMV were not ripped, they were not so great, but good atmosphere
Anyway, I wish you good luck getting it to run; and if you want a Czech version, no prob to send it to you
BTW, DONT forget to hire officers and create organization chart ASAP. The bonuses from doing so are... not small...

~SDC~

I'll also suggest Jagged Alliance 2. Strategy First released a goldpack last year that's usually not too hard to find that contains an enhanced version of the original game and the standalone mini-sequel for $20 or under if you can find it.

It is by far the best game I've ever played on the computer. It's over 5 years old at this point, and I still fire it up about once a year or so and play the bejesus out of it for a month or two.

There's also a total mod of JA2 out, and an even more ambitious one (Urban Chaos) in development.

Wow! I didn't think I'd get this many replies. Thank you to everyone who replied. I didn't get a chance to try out Spellcross, but I definitely will. I have an older computer that can handle most of the older titles, so I'm hoping I'll be okay.

I'm also excited about the prospects of UFO: Aftermath. From the links, it sounds very promising.

I have played Jagged Alliance 2 and I agree it's a great game -- I was single back when it was released and had a LOT more time for games.

Thanks again,

Cypher

Laser Squad nemesis!

Why, oh why, a day is only 24 hours?